Moving Ahead
by Meander Red
Summary: SERRAted Edge novels. Three royals among the Seelighe fey, two elves and one half-elf have set up residence in an Overhill town in Pennsylvania to the displeasure of some of the other fey. Will their anger endanger a girl who ran away to the elves? Hiatus


It was a fine May morning, and the beautiful woman gardener stretched her arms above her head watching the sunrise from her rooms. Her husband was still asleep and would be for the better part of an hour. She looked over at him and smiled.

It had been centuries ago when she had fallen in love with Math Mathonwy, and Olwen did not regret her decision to come with her husband to the little northeastern manufacturing town where they had set up residence. It was one which many of the sidhe had taken hardly, as a result cutting them off from a great many of those who came from Underhill, except for Maclyn and Keighvin Silverhair and the other elves that had taken to racing with SERRA. And Llew. Poor Llew, Math's ever exuberant nephew whose mortal blood made him actually skilled at handling iron enough that they were able to fill the orders at the parts factory that Math had established.

Llew was a good part of the reason they had left, smuggling him out before the Unseelighe challenged him to another fight that may actually be the death of him. Still, it was viewed as a sign of weakness, and while still welcome Underhill, the three fey were not as welcome there as they had once been.

She privately felt it was a way for him to get more things to tinker with on his own, but Olwen wisely said nothing about that. Math had been a mad scientist among the fey, inventing and creating things on a whim for longer than he had known her. A good hearted and incredible sweet mad scientist.

Instead, she let him sleep and decided to walk around the edge of the yard. The tiny custom built cabin nestled in the woods right outside the edge of the town was perfect for the three faery inhabitants. Especially Olwen. While Math and Llew had been able to fit into the town easily by changing their clothing and adopting the more conventional names of Matt and Lou, Olwen, who the townspeople always affectionately called Ellen or Ellie since that was as close as she had been able to get to her own name here, had had problems with the way that white starflowers would sprout at her feet when she walked on the grassy areas like the baseball field that cut across the company's parking lot. So, she spent a lot of time at home, when some paranoid housewife wasn't having problems with her roses or rutebagas that they called on the gardener to help fix.

It was peaceful out here. And the elvensteeds were good company.

She went out to check on the beautiful creatures, grooming her own Draenen Blodau, the wonderful cream and gold Arabian whickering softly. Olwen smiled at the sound, thinking how shocked that the neighbors would be if they heard her precious little Mustang that the high school boys drooled over neighing in the back pasture. She shrugged and moved Llew's rather curious mount away from the roses she had planted as a border hedge.

That was when she saw the child's pant leg that was shifting on the other side, and she found herself being tackled at the knees by a very frightened, very hungry little girl with scratched covering her from the thorns.

And other scars, still fresh showing on her emaciated arms.

Olwen picked up the little girl, trying to calm her, biting back a sigh as she did so.

A child who had run to the elves for protection.

A human child running to the elves, in an area where old timers still talked about changelings and how the faeries stole naughty children. And which people stood better than half odds of believing.

Math was going to be furious about that, especially if it made them all need to up and move.

_No help for it now though. In for a penny, in for a pound_. If nothing else, she could give the child a hot meal and good wash. And Llew and Math would love fussing over the dear one to pieces.

At least until they had to give her back to whoever had done this to her. Unless the situation was truly dire enough to allow intervention from Underhill. Even the grudges no few of the other Welsh fey held for Olwen wouldn't stand up to the thought of danger to a child, something more precious than gold to the fey.

She bundled up the crying little girl and took her back inside the house with her.


End file.
